Trauma and Tips for Healing
Trauma and Healing: Tips for Survivors
Many survivors of domestic violence and other forms of abuse have found the following activities helpful for healing from trauma. Explore and see what works best for you:
Empower yourself. Look for choices you can make towards greater wellness.
Validate yourself. Know that your perspective matters. You can learn to appreciate who you were, who you are, and who you are becoming.
Connect yourself. You can decide how much you share and with whom.
Appreciate yourself. Notice how far you’ve come. You’re worth the effort it takes to improve your well-being.
Forgive your brain. The deeper regions of the brain that control emotions or “fight or flight” might be overactive.
Seek healing through silence. Nonverbal techniques can be effective because they calm the deep regions of the brain most affected by trauma.
Writing can be a safe way to connect with emotions – it may help ease stress and physical symptoms of trauma.
Music relaxation can help decrease depression and improve sleep for survivors of trauma.
Yoga as a practice of body/mind awareness may be effective for people with chronic PTSD symptoms.
Progressive muscle relaxation targeting each muscle group one-by-one is an effective way to calm anxiety and combat stress-related pain.
Breathing deeply and slowly can help with the “fight or flight” response. Consider a deep breathing app to help.
Exercise has been shown to reduce PTSD symptoms and depression as well as improve sleep.
Trauma: What Friends & Family Need to Know
Everyone heals differently. Respect multiple coping styles.
Do not force the survivor to talk about it. Survivors who choose not to talk about trauma can be just as healthy as those who do.
Some people may wait years to speak about trauma. Reasons might include fear of being labeled a victim or a past experience of being blamed.
Healing takes time. Avoid saying that a trauma survivor should just “let it go” and move on. Understand that your relationship with them is valuable to their healing. The relationship may have challenges and moments of strength, but it is normal for the relationship to adjust as the survivor is healing, feeling more empowered, and rebuilding trust.
Practice supportive interaction techniques. Ask open-ended questions. Strive to be nonjudgmental. Point out the person’s strengths. Try not to minimize. Allow for silence. Reflect the emotion being described (“It sounds like…” or “No wonder you feel…”). Join in enjoyable activities to help establish a normal routine.